Sunday, April 10, 2011

Consumer Worksheet Part 2 (Trade)

Hey Everyone,
After completing the consumer worksheet, I found out a lot of interesting data. I found out that people who work in sweatshops in China are making $0.44 an hour in U.S funds, in Vietnam $0.26 an hour in U.S funds, and in Bangladesh $0.13 an hour in U.S funds. If I was making that mediocre income in the U.S, I would probably starve to death or become a beggar (homeless) in San Francisco. But the key factor on this concept is that all these people working in sweatshops for a really low salary do not live in the U.S and they also have different standard of living than Americans do. By America providing jobs for these people, gives these people an opportunity to not starve to death and, in fact, a higher life expectancy. I am not sure if by consuming products from these companies is actually the right thing to do but I do know that I sure do like their products and that's why i consume them. If I had to pay a higher price for the same product but I would be certain that these workers in other countries are being treated fairly, I would not mind paying more but to a certain extend. Of course for now, companies who are benefiting from all these cheap labor done in developing countries (competitive advantage). After completing these worksheet, I found out that most of the brands I buy from, the company's headquarter are located in big cities all over the U.S and the manufacturing is done overseas in developing countries.

1 comment:

  1. it really makes you want to change your consumer habits :(

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